


Flash Fanfiction - Episode 4 - Getting Answers

by Mindmarvel



Series: Flash Fanfic Introducing Mind Marvel [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 21:13:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13866123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindmarvel/pseuds/Mindmarvel
Summary: (FLASH/ARROW/SMALLVILLE CROSSOVER) Team Flash and Team Arrow take a trip to Smallville to uncover the truths behind what LuthorCorp is hiding behind its walls.





	1. Chapter 1

Astrid Sutherland looked across the large table at the employees who were present at today's monthly board meeting and then down at her list of topics. They were almost finished and she was excited to finish up quickly. She heard the door open from behind her, but she ignored the intrusion.

"Before we close, does anyone else have any further matters to discuss?" She asked the employees, hoping that there were none. "I do!" the intruder, standing at the door way, spoke up and she recognized the voice immediately. "As a silent investor in Sutherland Labs, I would like to discuss with you, your involvement with Luthor Corp."

Astrid looked up, "Mr Queen, I am surprised to see you here. We were just about to finish our meeting and then I will speak with you and give you a full rundown on the matter." Astrid tried her hardest to sound professional in the presence of her employees. She was most probably the youngest in the room at only 25 years of age and spent the other half of her time working at CCPD. Which did not go down well with her employees, as she seemed to be not as committed to her role.

"That concludes today's meeting, I will see you all next month." Astrid spoke to the board members and then looked at her new assistant, Jane Anders, as the rest of the staff left the room. "Can you please make those phone calls for me, Jane? I will be out of my office until this afternoon. If you need me, I am heading out to Jitters. I will have my phone on me."

Jane nodded and left. Astrid shuffled the papers into a neat pile on the table.  
"So word has it that you are no longer working on the 97th floor." Oliver said to her.  
"You heard? I needed my own private office and assistant so I took over this floor." Astrid told him, picking up her purse and heading out the door.  
"That isn't it. You told Cisco and Caitlin your secret and they didn't take it too well, did they?" Oliver asked as he closed the door behind him. They bypassed Jane's office and three other offices with staff, that Astrid barely knew and headed towards the elevator.

"Cisco didn't take it too well, no. But I help them whenever they need me. But right now I am trying to run my father's business and working over at CCPD." Astrid pressed the button to call the elevator, and they waited.  
Once it had arrived, they stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. Oliver pressed the buttons to take them to the 97th floor before she could determine where they were headed.

"Why are you really here, Ollie? And why are we going there?" Astrid asked him. He would not answer her.  
Once the doors had finally opened, they were standing at the entrance to the 97th floor and walked into the open plan office.  
Caitlin was fussing over Barry in his red suit. He had injured himself and she was bandaging him up. John Diggle was on the phone, while Cisco and Felicity were chatting 'nerd tech.'

Felicity looked up to see Astrid walking into the room. She ran up and hugged her excitedly. "Yay! You're here! I love this place! Your friends took me on a tour earlier and the things you guys research here… it is just… It's no wonder you accepted Luthor Corp's deal!" Felicity gushed.  
"It's great to see you too Felicity!" Astrid told her, "But I assure you, the research was not the only reason, that I accepted Lionel's deal."  
Cisco was still sitting at his computer, "Lionel blackmailed her." He told them. Astrid bit her lip. He was right.

Caitlin and Barry headed towards Astrid, Felicity and Oliver. "I really wish you would reconsider working here again." Caitlin told her, "we all miss you! It has been three boring weeks with just the guys and it was such a relief when the handsome Mr Oliver Queen came with his very lovely assistant and… his bodyguard." She whispered the last two words.  
Caitlin was clearly in awe of Oliver's handsome features and boyish charm, though she seemed somewhat stand offish over his bodyguard. Astrid realized that she did not know Oliver's true heroic identity.

"So Oliver, why did you bring me here? What is going on?" Astrid probed.  
"I meant what I said, I need to discuss with you a few matters relating to Luthor corp. When you left Sterling City, I had Felicity preform an overall search on them... as well as your father…"

Felicity picked up a pile of papers from the desk beside them. There were approximately ten pages in the stack. "It seems that people are continuously going missing and all the cases are in some way related to Smallville. This has been happening both before and after the meteor shower up until now. That group that you encountered, that… ahem… the arrow saved you from, they were all considered missing at some point." Felicity told her.  
Astrid looked over at the pages. In one of the articles, her father's name was listed. Oliver saw the one that she was reading. "There was another sighting of your father, just last week." he told her.

Astrid's heart sank. The picture was an old one, though there were recently claims that he had been seen around the town of Smallville. She didn't know what to say. She looked up at Barry, who didn't need her abilities to know what she was thinking. "If it were me, I would want to know." Barry told her, "It sounds like your father is actually alive." Astrid knew in her gut that her father was dead.

"Could we go, Astrid?" Caitlin pleaded. "If there is any chance that your father… or even Ronnie is alive… we need to know!" Astrid wasn't going to do it for her own sake, but for the sake of Caitlin. If the love of Caitlin's life was indeed alive, they needed to know.  
Cisco and John Diggle had now joined the group. "I'll call Lionel now. But Ollie, I will need you to play along. He will not reveal anything to us if he is under the assumption that Queen Industries or Sutherland Labs are working against him."

Oliver nodded, "You make the call, I'll prepare the plane." he said.  
Astrid made the call to Lionel Luthor, who, as she expected, sounded very hesitant for Oliver Queen and Astrid Sutherland to make a surprise visit to Smallville.  
"Lionel, I assure you, that with both the support of Sutherland Labs and Queen industries, Luthor Corp will be greatly benefitted..." Astrid attempted to charm him.  
"I understand that, Miss Sutherland, but in all due respect…" Lionel started.

"In all due respect, Mr Luthor your threats on my father's name no longer bare any weight. Mr Queen and I will be there this afternoon with some of our associates." Astrid ended the call and smiled at herself, she was starting to get the hang of playing ball in the corporate world.  
She was about to head back down to the 96th floor to speak with her assistant, Jane, when Cisco stopped her at the elevator doors, just as she had pressed the call button.  
"Cisco, is everything ok?" she asked him.

"Look, I know that I shouldn't have acted the way that I did when I found out that you could read minds." He began, "I mean that power is kinda cool. It would be awesome to have, but… it's the power of reading minds… You can tell what we are all thinking at any given moment… can't you?"

"I can, Cisco. But I promise you, that I have been trying to control it. Sometimes I just hear people's thoughts without trying. I can even see images… But I promise you, that I do not intentionally try and read your thoughts, or any of those closest to me… and I am still trying to learn to use my abilities. It comes in handy at CCPD that's for sure." Astrid thought back to her last case, the criminal was a compulsive liar.  
"I need to know, Astrid. Have you read any of my thoughts, at all?" he was asking her, sternly. She couldn't lie to him. Her pause had answered his question enough... he didn't let her finish.

"Look, I made you something. It's up to you if you want to wear it or not. But it is just like the handcuffs that we have been making for CCPD's criminals. The ones with the powers."  
He handed her a silver bracelet with multiple colored stones. The stones were clearly kryptonite. "This bracelet will stop you from using your powers, when you wear it."  
Astrid took the bracelet, "You're more or less telling me that you want me to wear it when I am around you. Don't you trust me?" she scoffed, thumbing the bracelet in her hand.  
"I do trust you, Astrid. But you said that sometimes you hear them without even trying. You couldn't even answer me when I asked you if you had read my thoughts." He had her there.

"Fine! I will wear it when I am around you. Otherwise, that's it!" Astrid put the bracelet in her bag and stepped into the elevator. "and for your information, this power is a burden. It's not cool!" she told him.


	2. Chapter 2

"So does everybody understand the plan?" Oliver asked the group when they were all sitting in the private plane on route to Smallville.  
"Absolutely," Felicity responded, "While you, Astrid, Caitlin and Diggle chat with Mr Luthor, Cisco and I will stay here and hack into the systems. Our good friend, Barry will have his own tour of Luthor Corp… Which should take him roughly ten minutes 'tops' by these blueprints." She was referring to what was on her laptop screen.

Astrid noticed an uneasy look that had come over Caitlin's face. "Caitlin, if Ronnie is there, I promise you, we will get him back! But we need you to be confident that this will work." Caitlin looked up at her friend. "Thank you, you just know how I get when it comes to acting. I'm not as good as you are when it comes to it…" Astrid wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment or not. She looked down at the bracelet on her wrist.

"That's pretty, Astrid. Is it new?" Caitlin asked her. Astrid looked over at Cisco, but then diverted her attention to Barry. "Are you ok to do this, Barry? This could be dangerous for you. Luthor has been creating beings like you and I, so he would most likely have precautions in place."  
"It's worth the risk, Astrid. I am not going to let you guys down." He told her.  
Felicity blushed as Barry glanced in her direction.

"Barry, you are going to be great!" Oliver told him, "remember that we will all have each other's backs. With you, our two best hackers here, and a mind reader on our side, we shouldn't fail." He placed his hand on Astrid's shoulder.

Cisco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as he saw the gesture. "Thanks for the compliment, Oliver. But I am curious. What do you add to the mix?"  
"We all need to be honest here if this is going to work." Oliver started.  
"Are you sure you want to tell them?" John Diggle asked him.

"You can trust them, Ollie." Astrid told them, "I trust Caitlin and Cisco with my life."  
"Have you heard of Sterling City's Arrow?" Oliver asked his question to Caitlin and Cisco.

Their eyes opened wide as they realized just who Oliver Queen's alter ego was. "It makes sense…" Cisco said, under his breath. He was mentally piecing all the news articles about Sterling City's vigilante and its billionaire playboy together. "You're not serious?" Caitlin said in awe.

"Yes he is," Barry told them. "I found out the truth just before the meteor shower."  
Cisco was currently torn between awe for his hero, the Arrow, and jealousy for the guy who could just swoon and steal Astrid's affections. He knew that for this mission he needed to put his emotions aside and work alongside the man. That was what he would do.

"We are just over Smallville, now." John Diggle told them, glancing out the window. "We all need to be ready for this mission, we cannot fail." They were all as ready as they could be.  
The plane landed on the rooftop of LuthorCorp, where an assistant of Lionel's was there to greet them, along with a team of security guards. As Oliver, Astrid, John and Caitlin were greeted by the Luthor Corp staff, Felicity and Cisco stayed behind on the plane setting up their network. Barry used this time to slip out of the plane and begin his quick tour undetected.

"Good Morning, Miss Sutherland and Mr Queen. My name is Mrs Kent. I am Lionel's assistant. But please call me, Martha." The polite lady held out her hand to shake Astrid's. She had long brown hair and was roughly ten years older. She seemed far too polite to work for Luthor Corp. But maybe this was why she had been appointed to greet her.  
Astrid shook the lady's hand, "Good morning, Martha. This is my associate Dr Caitlin Snow, she is one of our top doctors at Sutherland Labs and this is Mr Queen's associate, Mr John Diggle. Might I ask why Lionel did not show?" Oliver glanced over at Astrid. He had been wondering the same question. He shook the lady's hand nonetheless.

"Oh, his son, Alex, was up to some sort of mischief, he went to go and see to him. But he apologized in advance that he wasn't here to meet you here, himself."  
The lady led the group of them through the rooftop entrance and down a long corridor, chatting politely. Astrid could hear Cisco's and Felicity's voices through her ear piece, they were giving Barry directions and it was an open channel.

There was something about this seemingly soft-natured lady that stood out against the bland cold walls of Luthor Corp. Astrid subtly pulled her bracelet from her wrist and placed it in her pocket.  
The lady led them into a laboratory where scientists were hard at work, studying the meteor. Caitlin was in her glory, here. She ran up to a table, which held the biggest chunk of rock, distracting Astrid from her focus.

"I need to know something. My team have tried to determine why this stone has caused some people to experience certain gifts. While others have not had any side effects at all. Does your team know the answers?" she asked.

A young scientist with bright red hair and a white lab coat overheard Caitlin and brought over a pot-plant. "We have been answering that same question right here in Luthor Labs." She handed the pot-plant over to Caitlin. "We have been conducting experiments on plants and the answer is biology. My theory is that just like plants, while some people may be susceptible to the kryptonite's powers, others have an inbuilt immune system. Like this plant. It has not been effected in anyway."

"That makes sense." Caitlin said, she was battling with her own inner thoughts again. She handed the plant back to the scientist. "Thank you…" Caitlin said, unsure of the scientist's name.  
"… Oh, it's Pamela. I'm sorry I should have introduced myself. My name is Pamela Isley. I'm just a lowly scientist in the Biology and Ecology fields. But I know who you are Miss Caitlin Snow. I am a big fan!" Caitlin blushed. This was a new thing for her.

Oliver looked back over at Mrs Kent and asked her a few questions about the work that was done in this laboratory, while Astrid listened in to Cisco giving Barry further directions. Barry had come across a door that required only one more attempt at a code before the alarms would sound.  
"Felicity is trying to crack the code. Do not… I repeat do not try any more combinations, Barry." Cisco told him.

"Cisco?" Barry responded, "Does that map say anything hidden beneath the bottom floor? I was certain that there were no floors below me… But there is some sort of …" There was a 'click', followed by the swish of a large door opening. "No, Barry there is nothing here. You're on the lowest floor possible." Cisco told him.  
"I'm going to check it out, someone is coming…" Barry's connection went silent.

"Barry?" Cisco called out. "Barry? We have lost you… Barry! You guys, we've lost Barry! We can't reach him. The connection has gone dead!"  
Astrid looked over at Oliver. They needed to hurry things along. "How many floors does Luthor Corp have?" Astrid asked Martha.  
"I am actually a little unsure of the exact amount of floors, as I am quite new here. But we can get moving and see how far we get." Mrs Kent told them, leading the group out.  
Astrid was finding it hard to hold any form of distrust for the lady. This was clearly the reason that Lionel had hired her. He wanted them to trust this lady. As they walked, she pulled a few images from the lady's mind and she was overwhelmed with a feeling of compassion for the lady.

Astrid saw the tragedy of the meteor storm. This woman and her husband's truck had just survived a collision with a large meteor that had fallen into their road. Her husband had jerked the steering wheel, landing them onto the side of the road. They had survived, but their truck had hit another chunk of rock, beside an old rusty wire surrounding a corn field. The rock had destroyed the engine on impact.

Martha and her husband climbed out of the truck to hear the sound of a crying child, coming from the corn field. They entered the corn field in a hurry, following the crying. They had never in all their lives imagined the sight that had beheld them.

A young child of about 4 years old, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes was crying. He was sitting naked by a very large black chunk of meteor rock. Martha automatically rushed to the child's aid. She took off her coat and wrapped it around the boy lovingly, while her husband analyzed the rock, looking for any sign of the child's parents.  
He noticed at that point that it was not a rock, but some sort of aircraft. A pod of some sort. He also realized that this boy was indeed alone.  
"Astrid? Astrid?" Oliver's voice shook the image from her mind. They were standing in the elevator on a separate floor to the one that they had been on earlier. "Where did you go?" Oliver asked her, concerned, "You have been in a daze for a while now."

They were all staring at her, with concern. "Are you ok Miss Sutherland?" Martha Kent asked her, unaware of Astrid's abilities.  
"I am fine." Astrid told them, "I just remembered that my father must have come through here at some point." She improvised on the spot.  
At that moment a glint of something flew through Martha's mind. She knew something about Astrid's father, but she didn't want to mention anything to them. Astrid saw the thought cross over the lady for the briefest of moments, but she had seen it, nonetheless. To Martha Kent's knowledge. Astrid's father was indeed alive.


	3. Chapter 3

"I still can't seem to reach Barry. I am getting really concerned." Cisco told the group. Oliver, Astrid and Caitlin had reached the bottom floor with Martha, and had encountered no sign of him either.

"I cannot seem to get any phone service here," Diggle told them, "I am going to make a phone call so I will catch up with you all after." Martha did not seem suspicious in the slightest as John Diggle stepped away. He brought his phone to his ear as a façade and spoke, to Cisco and Felicity.

"Give me Barry's final coordinates and I will look for him," he told them, under his breath. Cisco did as he was asked and wished him luck. Diggle arrived at the location that Cisco had given him and felt around for cracks in the walls and floor. The varnished floor below sounded hollow beneath the varnished floorboards. John ran his foot along the bottom of the wall and heard a click and then a swish, as the floorboards by his feet parted, revealing a staircase.

He made his way down the steps, slowly. The room below him was dark. As he made it to the bottom of the staircase, the floorboards above sealed again. To his surprise, the room lit up automatically, it was some sort of secret corridor with rooms on either side.  
John clicked his switch on his ear piece. This signal had been lost. He tried his phone. There was no service. He went back up the stairs to try and reopen the floorboards from above him. There was no switch to reopen them. Barry must have had to be down here. Diggle stepped back down the steps and followed the hallway, searching within the rooms for any sign of Barry.

"Great! And now we have lost Dig!" Felicity said through the open channel to the rest of team. Oliver sighed. "I'm hungry, when do we stop for lunch?" he asked Martha Kent. He needed a chance to break away to look for Barry and John. They needed to work fast and to get them back as soon as they could. "I am eager to speak with Mr Luthor before the day is over," Astrid said. They both knew that Martha would have to accompany either one of them. The other could search for Barry and Diggle.  
"I will call Lionel to see where he is." Martha told them, she took a few steps back from them.

"How could we lose both Barry and Mr Diggle so quickly?" Caitlin asked Ollie and Astrid quietly, so she wouldn't be overheard.  
"I don't know." Astrid whispered, "we need to find them. They wouldn't just disappear without telling us. "No, they wouldn't," Oliver replied, "Judging by their conversations with Cisco, they clearly went below ground. They could be trapped, so we might have to find another way down. Felicity? Can you find anything at all that might take us underground?"  
"No, Ollie… and trust me I have been looking, ever since Barry asked." Felicity told him, "I have cameras and heat sensors all over the place. Nothing is coming up… give me a few minutes and I will see what I can … oh wait, Cisco what's that?"

"That looks like a secret room behind a book case… There is heat radiating all over that baby." Cisco replied, "Only you will have to access Lionel Luthor's office to get in."  
"Ok." Martha's voice broke into their conversation. "Lionel will come see you now."  
They only had to wait a few moments until Mr Lionel Luther finally showed up. He had dark-blonde shoulder length hair, he wore a very expensive suit and was roughly the same age as Astrid's father.

"Miss Sutherland, it's nice to finally get to meet you, and you must be Mr Oliver Queen. I met your father once or twice. A very good man, might I add. And whom may I ask is your friend?" he asked, referring to Caitlin.  
"This is Dr Caitlin Snow. One of our brilliant minds at Sutherland Labs." Astrid introduced them. Caitlin held out her hand to shake Lionel's though he didn't return the gesture. Instead he brought his attention back to Oliver.

"So Mr Queen, what brings the two of you to Luthor Corp. Miss Sutherland told me that it would be of some sort of benefit to me…" he spoke directly to Oliver.  
"We really shouldn't be chatting in this hallway. Do you have some where a little more formal?" Oliver asked him.  
"Oh where are my manners?" If the three of you would like to accompany me to my office. I am sure Mrs Kent would be delighted to bring in some refreshments." He waved Martha away and then led the three of them to his office.

Barry awoke and found himself coming in and out of consciousness. He was reminded of the bed that he had woken from his coma in, back in Sutherland Labs. Only he wasn't in Sutherland Labs. And he wasn't in a bed. What had happened to him and where was he?

The room that he was in was a large dimly lit laboratory, he was tied to a chair. The last thing that he had remembered was finding the secret compartment under the ground. He had lost communication with the rest of the group and then someone had hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out.  
There were people strapped to beds around him sleeping, but he could not see any doctors. Though someone had knocked him out and had tied him here. But where were they now?

Barry tried to phase his hands free, but for some reason, his powers would not work. He realized that he wasn't wearing his earpiece. Whoever had brought him here had clearly removed it. Or maybe it had fallen and they had not yet found it. He could only hope.  
He heard someone cough, it startled him. A man had woken up from the bed and was trying to break free from the straps, he wasn't having any luck in doing so, either. He was roughly the same age as Barry.

"You weren't here before. They must have just brought you down here." The man called out to Barry.  
"No, I wasn't. I don't know what happened. Someone knocked me out and brought me here." Barry told the man groggily. "No, that doesn't make sense. They don't normally bring new people down here, unless… You must be special too." the man said.

"What do you mean by special?" Barry asked him, though he had a feeling that he knew the answer. Clearly whoever had brought him here had seen him using his speed. Barry had thought that Felicity had overrode all the security footage so that no one would see him. It was clear that Luthor Corp was onto them and he had no way of informing his friends.  
"My name is Dr Martin Stein. Not that names matter much here." The man said, "These scientists are playing God. They did something to one of my old associates, and now he is just… not even human. They even took over my own project and…" Martin Stein focused his hearing to one of the doors at the far end of the room. "Shh. Someone is coming."  
Barry look down into his lap but watched from his peripheral vision, as a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room. He was shocked as he realized just who the man was. It was Robert Sutherland, Astrid's father.

Barry gasped, but to his dismay, it was loud enough to grasp the doctor's attention. "Barry Allen, is it?" the doctor began, "My host tells me that you are a friend of his daughter's." Dr Robert Sutherland told him.

Barry looked up at the man. This man had been his hero for a very long time. But there was something about this man. And why did he refer to himself as the host?  
"Mr Sutherland. What happened to you?" Barry asked him.

Robert diverted Barry's question. "I saw you use your gifts, Barry, and for a moment I thought we were of the same kin. Though this room has dampened your abilities. So I know that is not the case. You are just a lowley human. Just like all these others." He gestured to the sleeping patients on the beds.  
This being standing before Barry was not even human. But for someone who believed in the impossible, even he was having a hard time in believing what he was seeing.  
There was a sudden ringing from Dr Sutherland's pocket. He pulled out the phone and answered it. "Yes, Lionel. I will sort it out immediately." He ended the call and left the room quickly.

"You remembered Mr Sutherland, didn't you?" Martin spoke again. He had pretended to be a sleep the whole time. "I did. He… Robert was my friend's father. We need to do something fast. we need to get out of here and warn friends... and Astrid."


	4. Chapter 4

John Diggle crept into the laboratory where Barry and the other patients were being held. He had seen the late Dr Sutherland approach Barry from the window, although he could not hear what had been said. He was relieved that he had not been seen.

He crept in to the laboratory, entirely sure that the doctor had left. "Barry, we need to find a way out of here. Was that really Dr Sutherland?"  
Barry was relieved to see John Diggle. "It was his body, but something else was in control of it." Barry told him. John untied Barry's bindings from behind his back.  
"We need to wake these guys up and get them to safety." Barry told him, glancing over at Martin Stein. John was reluctant. "Barry, we don't have time." But Barry had already begun freeing and waking them up. There were five other patients, besides Martin. All were hesitant to trust Barry and Diggle until Martin had convinced them otherwise.

"Do any of you know how to get out of here?" John asked them. Martin was trying to get his bearings. It had been such a long time since he had been allowed to stand. "I think I remember." He told them, "But it has been a while since I have been on my… I mean Ronnie's feet."  
Barry and John were confused. Understanding their confusion, Martin elaborated, "You see I was in charge of a project which was taken over by Luthor Corp. My DNA was merged with another, a young man named Ronnie Raymond. I inhabit his body you see…"

"Ronnie Raymond?" Barry repeated, "Wow, Caitlin is going to freak!"  
"She will only 'freak' if we manage to get out of here, Barry." Diggle chimed in, "We will continue the conversation later. Let's just find the others!"  
Martin led Barry, Diggle and the patients out through the same door that Dr Sutherland had used to exit the room, making their way into a cement-wall corridor, roughly twenty meters long, with a door at the other end.

As they got to the door, Martin stopped and listened to the faint voices on the other side. "We can't go out there yet." He whispered to them.  
"What? Why?" Barry asked. He listened to the voices. They belonged to his friends and someone else, it must have been Lionel Luthor.  
"If we are going to have any chance of getting out of here," Martin Stein started, "we need to get into that room there without being detected."  
John crouched down next to the bottom of the door. "There is no light coming from the bottom of the door." He whispered to them, "meaning that there is an object on the other side of the door." He pulled his earpiece from his ear and held it between the gap under the door, clicking the button three times quickly, three times slowly and then three times quickly again.

All he needed was to receive enough signal for Cisco and Felicity to reach the transmission of his earpiece. The earpiece was inbuilt with a tracker so even if they couldn't hear his voice they could get a reading of his location. John waited a few moments and then repeated the clicking transmission. He would continue this for as long as it took.  
"Felicity, What's that sound?" Cisco asked.  
"What's what sound?" she asked in return.

"That clicking… listen…" they both listened, but the clicking had stopped. They waited in case they heard it again. Click-click-click… Click…Click…Click... Click-Click-Click.  
"There it is again!" Cisco exclaimed, excitedly. That's got to be them.  
"I think that's Diggle." Felicity said, excitedly. She flicked through the security footage and turned on the thermal imaging. "There they are!" she yelled out, startling Cisco as she pointed to the red silhouettes on the other side of the book case in Lionel Luthor's office.  
Inside the office, Astrid, Caitlin and Oliver were meeting with Mr Luthor himself.

"You guys! You have to get Lionel to leave his office. Dig and Barry are on the other side of the bookcase." Cisco told them.  
"Mr Luthor." Astrid improvised, "I am not going to lie to you. Oliver and I heard a few conspiracy theories in relation to Luthor corp conducting tests on humans. I need to know if that is true."

"Miss Sutherland. You're a big girl, you should know not to believe every little rumor you hear." Lionel said, "Nonetheless, I understand that you would both like to see proof. Very well if you lot will follow me." Lionel led them out of his office, closing the door behind them.  
"Diggle, if you can hear us. The coast is clear…" Felicity called out.  
John could hear Felicity's voice coming from the mini speaker. He could have sworn he heard her tell him that the coast was clear. He listened out for voices in the next room, though there were none.

He stood up and held the door handle in his hand, turning it. The door was locked. He heard members of the group behind him sigh in frustration. But he wasn't concerned. His years in the military had taught him to always be prepared. He pulled out a paperclip from his pocket and bent it to fit through the lock in the door. The click of the door, as it unlocked, was a big relief to the lot of them.

He turned the handle and the door opened, and then, automatically, so did the book case. They all felt a rush of freedom as they stood inside Lionel Luthor's office. Barry attempted to phase his hand. His powers were working! Martin's whole body burst into flame on will, startling both Barry and Diggle. He eliminated the flame and apologized. "I'm sorry. I will explain it all later. Right now, we have our freedom to obtain."

John reconnected his earpiece and spoke. "Felicity, Cisco. We need to get the hell out of here. We have a whole group with us. We need directions."  
"As much as I would really love to give you directions, Dig, you guys are going to have to …" Before Felicity could finish her sentence the connection had been cut and the door of Lionel's office swung open and in walked Lionel, Oliver, Astrid and Caitlin.

"I knew that there had been a reason that you would encourage me to leave my office, after I heard reports of a breach in Luthor Corp. It seems that you have succeeded in freeing the patients, which is the reason that I let the other runaways escape in the first place." Lionel told them walking towards a young teenage girl patient. She stepped away from him. She was clearly afraid of the man.

Barry stepped in between them to protect her. "Oh, I know your power, Barry Allen." Lionel told him, with mockery in his tone. "But let me ask you this: while you have all been under my roof, breeching my home, who has been protecting your little computer geniuses?"  
"Felicity?" Oliver tried to communicate through his earpiece.

"Cisco, can you hear me?" Astrid called out. "Barry? We need to help them!" Barry looked at the patients, none of them were in any condition to fight, let alone walk. "I need to get these guys to safety first." He told her. He created a blur of lightning bolts and energy as he came back and forth taking the patients to a safe harbor.  
"Where is Cisco and Felicity?" Astrid demanded an answer. She attempted to read Lionel's mind, but she couldn't. He smiled. Somehow he knew what she was doing. John Diggle restrained Lionel by the arms, though this did not break the man's mocking demeanor.

"Tell us where they are!" Oliver demanded.  
"Oh you will see them very shortly, I assure you."  
At that moment Caitlin glanced over at Martin Stein, she recognized him instantly. "Ronnie? It's me Caitlin." Martin had a confused expression on his face, but then the confusion subsided. "No, my name is Martin Stein. Though the young man known as Ronnie is in here too."

Caitlin was baffled. She let her frustration loose at Lionel. "What did you do to him!" she yelled, letting nothing but a strong cold wind gust of blow in his direction. Astrid tried to calm her friend down by putting her arm around her back, supportively restraining her from her waist.  
Lionel stared at Caitlin, his mocking demeanor still did not subside, instead he was, all the more, amused by this action. Astrid observed his behavior, this man had something up his sleeve. She had seen this before with many criminals that she had interrogated and interviewed.

"Why, Caitlin Snow. Are your friends aware of this side of you?" he was staring her directly in the eyes, as her face was inches from his own. Astrid was puzzled, she looked at Caitlin whose face had changed dramatically.  
Her face had become white as… as snow… her eyes had quite literally grown cold with ice. Astrid let go of her and brought her hand to her face as she gasped. For a moment, she even feared her best friend.

Barry had returned and was standing beside them, all the patients including Martin, Ronnie or whoever he was, had been taken to safety and now even he was staring at her.  
"The meteor shower changed people. You all know that, Barry Allen, Caitlin Snow and even you Astrid Sutherland. Those patients that you rescued, I didn't give them their powers. I merely wanted to know what they were capable of. That meteor shower gave humanity a gift making them stronger than ever before. We are going to need that strength for what lies in our future. Aliens are coming, in fact they are already here… and they want nothing but war!"

"Lionel, you're are smart man…" Astrid told him, "but, there are no such thing as aliens. You are being delusional!"  
Caitlin had focused all her strength on calming herself down. Her eyes had gone to the soft brown eyes as before and her skin had gone back to normal too. "Where are our friends?" she demanded of the man, keeping her emotions in check.

All the attention had been shifted back on to Lionel, "If you unhand me for one moment. I will show where they are. You should know that I am of no match for any of you." Oliver nodded at John to let go, so he did.  
Lionel walked to his desk and opened his laptop. He pulled up a screen and enlarged it. It was security footage of a room, a warehouse of some sort. Cisco and Felicity were bound and gagged to chairs.

"I understand that none of you are as computer savvy as either one of them, and I assure you that your friends are not being kept anywhere on Luthor grounds. But the clock is ticking, so you will need to hurry." He told them menacingly.  
"What are you going to do? You can't have taken them that far, in this short amount of time?" Barry questioned the man."

"Can't I? You clearly weren't listening when I mentioned the word 'aliens'. Those two are merely at the mercy of one that I am in association with. For breeching Luthor curp's private network, I could have them arrested... Instead my, associate will handle them. Unless you get to them first." he told the group.  
"Go, Barry! Go!" Astrid demanded of her friend. He was gone before she could finish her sentence.


	5. Chapter 5

Felicity and Cisco stirred in their seats alongside each other. They couldn't break free of the binds that had them strapped to the seats side by side one another. They hadn't seen what had happened. But it should have been expected as hacking into Luthor Corps mainframe had been far too easy for them.  
They had lost their communication channel with their friends and could only hope that their friends would find them somehow.  
Cisco looked around at their surroundings. They seemed to be in an old storage room filled with shelves containing nothing at all useful. It was a large room and apart from a few small windows up high, it was quite dark.

He wiggled his head, fortunately his gag broke free, he could only wish that he could do the same with his wrists. On seeing him do so, Felicity wiggled free from her gag too.  
"What do you remember, Cisco?" Felicity asked him, "did you see who brought us here?"  
"no, I didn't. They knocked me out before I got the chance. No actually, I think I was chloroformed."

"They have had to have been watching us work. If that is the case, they would know why we were doing it." Fear was in her voice.  
"No! that would mean that Barry and the others would be in trouble. That Luthor Corp has been watching us, as we have been watching them." Cisco told her. He looked around the darkened roof, "If I am right, we are still being watched. They have to have cameras around here somewhere." Felicity looked around also, neither one of them could see anything.  
As Barry had left, Oliver had claimed to go looking for Felicity and Cisco by himself. He had returned as the Arrow, and threw Lionel up against the bookcase, making a few books fall off the shelf. "Quit playing games, Luthor! Tell me where they are!"  
"I know who you are… vigilante…" Lionel sneered, as his head hit the shelf.

Astrid studied the footage on the screen, looking for some location stamp or anything to indicate where they were. "I only see numbers," she told her friends.  
There was a knock at the door and the Arrow let go of Lionel. The group would either be kicked out at this point or they could act as if nothing had happened.  
Lionel ran to the door, fixing his suit and tie. "Mr Luthor, is everything ok in here?" It was Martha and she was standing with a young boy who was wearing a black cap.  
"Mrs Kent, everything is fine. Now I would ask if you mind taking Lex somewhere for him to go play. I am in the middle of something very important right now. Martha looked as if she wanted to argue her point, but she took Lex by the hand and left as Lionel closed the door behind them.

"I apologize for that intrusion. Where are my manners?" he told them, "those numbers are a default sequence, there is no way of using them to track your friends.  
Astrid thought of Martha, she would be the best possibility to gain information on her friend's whereabouts, but she needed someone to stay with Lionel and keep her updated if something were to happen to Cisco and Felicity. "John, I need the two of you to stay here. Get what you can out of him. I have an idea." She and Caitlin left the office in search of Martha.

They found her not far down the hallway. The boy she had been with, had stormed ahead. He was clearly upset about being dismissed by Lionel.  
"Martha, I need your help." Astrid said, " and something tells me that I can trust you. I am not sure if you are aware, but your boss seems a little…" she couldn't think of the correct word.

"If you are about to say ruthless? I agree." Martha told her, with a soft tone.  
"Mrs Kent, can we go somewhere and maybe have a little chat? Please?" Astrid asked her.  
Martha hesitated but then agreed. "Lionel has this entire place bugged, we will have to leave the premises, but I know just the place."  
Mrs Kent brought Astrid and Caitlin to her home. A farm on the outskirts of Smallville and offered them a drink and slice of cake.  
"This is a beautiful home," Caitlin told her.

"Thank you. This farm has been in our family for generations and is a great place to raise a child." Martha told them. Astrid glanced over at a photo of Martha and what must have been her husband and son. Only the boy was the same child that Astrid had seen in Martha's thoughts earlier.  
"Your son is adorable." She told Martha, "he looks just like you."  
Martha blushed, "thank you. But Clark was adopted."

Astrid read Martha's thoughts again, and immediately understood why Martha was working for Lionel. She was being blackmailed by him. Martha's adopted son Clark had special abilities, Lionel knew this and in order to keep the Kent's secret he had blackmailed her to work for him. In return he would keep Clark's gifts a secret.  
"Miss Sutherland, I understand that we are not here to talk about my son," Martha told them sternly. "No, that is correct." Astrid told her, "I'm not going to lie to you, because I know that I can trust you. Lionel Luthor has my friends somewhere and I need to find them before he or whoever he is working with, does something to them."  
"Why would Lionel have your friends?" Martha asked the girls. Astrid bit her bottom lip, while Caitlin looked away. "Look, girls. I cannot help you if I don't understand what is going on…" Martha told them.

"Astrid we…" Caitlin began, but they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Mrs Kent's husband. He looked a little panicked about something. "Martha. I need you to come with me for a moment." He told his wife, "Jonathon…" Martha said, but instead she turned to her visitors and excused herself, and followed her husband outside.  
"They are hiding something," Caitlin said, "did you get any readings on her?"  
"I did." Astrid said, standing up. "Let's go find out what it is."

They left through the same door that the Kents had used and followed their voices towards the barn.  
"…Clark, Please. You need to put the truck down." Martha said from inside the barn.  
Astrid looked at Caitlin and then they both crept into the barn behind the Kents, whose attention was on their red truck that was currently being lifted in the air by the back end. Jonathon Kent turned to the girls. "You two need to leave immediately." He told them, as he stood in their view.  
Astrid glanced over his shoulder as the truck was placed neatly back on the ground, by none other than the young boy who had been holding it. The Kent's adopted son Clark. He was roughly four years old.

She and Caitlin were in awe. The Kents both attempted to make both the girls leave before they saw anything else. "Your son Clark was affected by the meteor shower too." Astrid told her, "I know you are both scared, but you can trust us, I promise you."  
"I'm sorry. I will drive you back to Luthor Corp, ladies. You both need to leave." Martha told them. "We will take the car." Jonathon picked up their son, who waved at the girls as they left with his mother.

"Please, Martha… You can trust us. I promise you!" Astrid pleaded as they got to Martha Kent's car.  
"I can read minds, I was affected by the meteor shower too and it granted me this…"  
"Please, do not mock my family, Miss Sutherland…" Mrs Kent told her.  
"I promise you I am not. I know how you found Clark! You and your husband barely survived when a meteor fell into your road while you were driving home from the markets. You found Clark by some sort of black machine…" Astrid told her quickly.

"How do you know that?" Martha questioned her, and she realized it too. That Astrid was telling the truth. That this girl, could indeed read minds.  
The Arrow glanced down at Lionel whose face was swollen and was bleeding from the nose. He had assumed that Lionel had been bluffing about knowing his true identity as he had not given any other indication. However, the man was either playing stupid, or he truly had no idea on Felicity and Cisco's whereabouts.  
Oliver pointed an arrow at the man's face, "For the last time… Where… are… they?" Oliver said sternly, his hood shielding his face.  
Lionel's phone beeped from in his pocket, "That call could be the one we have been waiting on… It will tell us what your friends are doing at this precise moment…" Lionel told him. Oliver lowered his bow, to allow him to answer it.

Lionel didn't say anything, he just listened and then ended the call. "It won't be long now." He told them. "They want me to give you the coordinates, and for the sake of all of us. I hope you make it!"


	6. Chapter 6

Astrid and Caitlin stared intently across the dining table at Martha Kent who had just finished telling them her story. Martha then added, "I really don't believe that my son was… as you say affected… by the shower… I think…"  
Caitlin didn't need Astrid's mind reading abilities to understand what Mrs Kent was thinking. Could it at all be possible that young Clark Kent was the reason that the meteor shower had occurred in the first place?

Astrid looked at her phone. Barry was calling. Why hadn't he been using the damn Bluetooth headset? She wondered. She answered the call. "Barry? Why aren't you…"  
"No time! Astrid. Oliver received coordinates. We're going underground… I'm standing in the cornfield so I need you two to excuse yourselves." Barry told her.  
Astrid looked over at Caitlin and nodded. The two of them clambered to their feet. "Mrs Kent, we need to go…" Astrid told her in a hurry.  
Caitlin took Martha's hands. "You know who we are and what we do… If you ever want to bring Clark to us. If he is ever needs medical help… please, I want you to know that you can trust us… We are studying everything related to the meteor shower and we have gathered…"

Astrid knew that she would be seeming rude at this point. "Caitlin, we need to go now… Barry is waiting…" Caitlin excused herself, and the two of them raced outside and headed into the cornfield, unaware that Martha could still see them through her window. She witnessed them standing with a figure in a red suit one minute… and gone the next.  
Barry, Caitlin and Astrid met Oliver and Diggle in a secluded cave on the outskirts of town.

"Ollie, this doesn't seem much like a lair to keep prisoners. Nobody seems to be here." Astrid said as she followed her friends into the dark cave.  
Oliver held up a small torch and led the group further, "You would be surprised, Star. Sometimes a cave makes the best place." He thought back to a time back on the island.  
"Star?" Caitlin asked Astrid, "You have to admit, that sounds quite cute!"  
Astrid didn't reply.

"Oliver, you said that Lionel just gave you the coordinates?" Barry had a hard time believing this information.  
"He received a call and just handed the coordinates over. Whoever is behind this seems to be using Lionel as a pawn in his game too." Oliver told him.  
Barry thought back to Dr Sutherland at Luthor corp. It sure looked like Robert Sutherland, Astrid's father. He needed to tell her. She needed to know what was going on. She was right behind him so he turned to her, missing his step and stumbling in the darkness, almost tripping Astrid and Caitlin.  
"Barry, are you ok?" Caitlin asked him. He couldn't see a thing, but he knew that he was fine, nonetheless. Caitlin and Astrid helped him to his feet. "Astrid, there is something you need to know…"

Oliver and John who had continued walking forward, called out to them. They had stopped instantly, and were staring down at the space directly in front of their feet. Caitlin, Barry and Astrid made their way towards the two men, who stopped them before they could walk any further.  
Before them was a very deep and very dark pit. Oliver shun the torchlight around, looking for a way around the pit. There was none.  
"Any idea how deep it is?" Astrid asked. John picked up a rock and threw it down the pit. It took a while and eventually they heard a faint splash. "Whose up for a swim?" Barry asked them all. Caitlin tried to hesitate but Barry took hold of her and in a moment they were both gone.

Oliver attached the torch to his suit, shot an anchor arrow to the other side of the cave wall and took hold of Astrid's waist and swung over the mouth of the pit, hoisting them down, steadily.  
Barry had reemerged and assisted John Diggle back down into the pit. "You know that I hate heights!" Astrid groaned. She was wishing that she had gone with Barry.  
"It's not so bad, when you can't see the bottom, Star. Just hold on tight and you will be fine." Oliver tried to comfort her. "Actually not seeing the bottom makes it even scarier." She told him. She buried her face into his chest and held on to him tightly.

"Okay, We're almost at the bottom." Oliver told her. She opened her eyes, and found that they were hovering above, not the floor, but a pool of water. "How deep is it?" She asked him. In a moment they dropped into the water, which came to waist level.  
Where were the rest of the group? "Barry? Caitlin?" Astrid called out her friends names.

Oliver hushed her. There was a very large rumbling in the cave and some rocks to the right of them collapsed. "That can't be good." Astrid groaned.  
"Astrid! Oliver!" Barry's voice came faintly from the other side of the rocks, "I can't get to you. I will look around for a way to get the two of you out of there." Oliver had already started searching for another way out.

Astrid was trying her hardest not to panic. She raced towards the location that the rocks had begun falling and tried to pry one from the heap. "Oliver, this one is too heavy, can you help?"  
He moved her hands away and pointed to the top of the heap. "It's weak there. If we move it, this whole chamber could collapse." Astrid gasped. She was annoyed that she hadn't thought about that in the first place. Amongst the silence, they could hear water dripping. Oliver followed the sound and found that there was water trickling in from a crack in the wall. To their dismay, it was coming in at a rapid rate.

"If worse comes to worse, we can always go back the way that we came." She offered. Oliver was shining his torch at the water trickling in.  
"I would love to tell you that, that was an option. Only that loud rumble earlier, was our entrance being blocked. It might be up to Barry and the rest to find us a way out of here before this whole place caves in… or we get flooded in." Oliver replied, with a slight hint of concern in his voice.  
"Great! Thanks for that truth there, Ollie." Astrid told him, sarcastically. "What now?"

Cisco and Felicity had given up creating plans of escape, as they still couldn't manage to free themselves from the ropes that bound them. "At any minute the guys will break in through those doors right there and they would have fought off all the bad guys, and we will be free. Barry and Astrid will be the first to charge through and free us…" Felicity said with a trailing sense of optimism.

"I'm surprised you didn't say Oliver." Cisco told her, "Wait… you like Barry…" He tried to hold back a laugh. "Don't worry, I think it will make his day."  
Felicity felt a little embarrassed. "I bet Astrid rescuing you will lead to a romantic scene that will end the 'will they... wont they tension that surrounds the two of you."  
Cisco looked down at the floor before he answered. "It doesn't matter who saves us, Felicity. Nothing can happen between Astrid and I."  
Felicity's heart sank. "Why is that?"

"It's simple. She and I will never be anything more than friends. Plus, I'm currently seeing someone." He told her. They heard a rattling of keys and looked towards the door, silently, hoping that it would be their friends.  
The door opened and they were immediately stunned by the man who entered.  
"Dr Sutherland!" Felicity gasped, as the scientist closed the door behind himself and hurried over to them, he looked as if he were not supposed to be there. That he was hiding from somebody.

Robert Sutherland studied Cisco's face as if trying to recognize it. It had only been a few months since they had last seen each other.  
"Robert… If only Astrid could…" Cisco began.

Robert Sutherland untied their binds and interrupted them, "We need to get the two of you out of here. You don't want to know what they have planned."  
"What do who have planned?" Felicity asked, clambering to her feet, followed by Cisco. Robert did not reply, he led them to the door and instructed them to keep quiet.  
Robert opened the door, the surroundings outside had not been what Felicity and Cisco had expected it to be. The walls were made from thick black rock. It was clear that they were deep underground and in some sort of hallway. There were multiple doors made from grey metal. Water trickled along the rocky walls.  
One of the doors rattled. Robert opened another nearby door and gestured for them both to hide inside as he closed the door behind the three of them.

They heard voices from the other side of the door, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Once the voices died down, they looked at the room around them and saw no resemblance of the underground hallway from where they had just come from. No rocky walls at all. The walls were pure white and flat.  
They were in some sort of laboratory. "What is going on here? Where are we? And what happened to you, Robert?" Cisco questioned the doctor.  
Robert focused his attention on the door and locked it. "Those people out there. They are some sort of alien race. They can get into the minds of anyone and they can pretend to be anyone. They brought you down here, which means you are stuck here and Astrid is in danger. There is no way for us to escape."


	7. Chapter 7

Astrid checked her phone. She was holding it in her hand to avoid it getting damaged in the water. She and Oliver had been trapped for two hours now and neither one of them could get any service to call for help. The water was at her chest level and getting deeper by the minute.

She was shivering. Somehow, Oliver was able to stay calm in this predicament. She had refused his attempts to hold her and keep her warm earlier.  
"W-What is keeping them? They have to had found a way to help us by now!" she stammered through chattering teeth. "We have to get out of here…"  
"We will, Star. Don't worry." Oliver put his arm around her shoulders so she rested her head into him, she was feeling defeated. "I hope they are okay." Astrid told him, referring to 

Cisco and Felicity. He nodded. Oliver was feeling at fault. Maybe if he hadn't have brought Felicity and John to Central City, they wouldn't be in this mess. But it was only a matter of time until things got out of hand here in Smallville. There were too many villains with super powers. He needed to end it.

He looked down at Astrid, still as beautiful as ever. He still loved her just as much, maybe more than he had in high school. Over the past month she had picked herself up and taken charge of her father's corporation, even though it meant rarely spending time with her friends. She was making herself inaccessible to everyone and she was pushing them away in the process. Just as he had in the past. This would be her downfall. The two of them were alike in many ways, but she would never see it that way.

Astrid tilted her head up and looked at Oliver. She was tired of allowing herself to be unhappy. She had broken Oliver's heart in the past and now he was a different person. He was no longer the jerk that he once was. He was even trying to mend bridges with Cisco. For a moment, she forgot that her whole body was shivering, for at that moment she felt comfortable being this close to him.

They closed their eyes and allowed their faces to inch closer, allowing themselves to be swept in the moment. They both felt dizzy, as if their whole worlds were spinning for the briefest of moments. But there was no kiss.

A light shone on their faces. "It worked!" Barry's voice excitedly announced and Oliver and Astrid both realized that, somehow they had been saved. They opened their eyes to find that they were out of that cave and that they were standing on damp rocky ground, with Barry, Caitlin and John.  
"So… how did that happen?" Oliver asked Barry, who was still very excited about what he had just accomplished. Diggle's eyes were wide open. He could not believe what he had just seen Barry do.

Caitlin wrapped her coat around Astrid and rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to warm her up. "I had a theory…" she said excitedly, "It had to do with Barry's phasing ability… and it clearly worked! Barry, if he travels fast enough can actually run through walls… and in this case solid rock."  
"Wow! Barry! That's amazing…" Astrid exclaimed as she hugged him.

"Yeah… Barry…" Oliver was trying to find the right words to say. His ego was slightly bruised, "Next we will be hearing that you can walk on water…" he added with sarcasm.  
"He can't walk on water, can he?" Diggle asked.  
"Not that I know of… yet." Caitlin started, "wait… if he runs at a velocity of…"  
"Whoa… whoa whoa!" Oliver interrupted her, "Don't we have a mission at hand? Where are we? John, I assume that you have already figured out where it is we are exactly?"

Diggle who was still struggling with the concept of Barry being able to walk on water needed to mentally bring himself to the situation at hand. "Yes, the entrance is above us. That's where the light is coming from. It's a good distance high, but fortunately not as high as our descent was. Every now and then we have heard the echoes of voices speaking in a language that I am not familiar with. Judging by where we are, I would say we are in some sort of pit. That passageway over there behind us goes on for I don't know how long. But there are a few decomposing bodies that has me hoping that nothing lives down here. It's quite possible."

By the expressions on Caitlin and Barry's faces, this news was new to them. "So what you're suggesting is that while we were trying to determine how to free Astrid and Oliver, we may have been prey to something else." Caitlin suggested.  
"That is exactly what I am saying." Diggle told them.  
"That is pretty grim." Barry responded. Caitlin groaned with paranoia.

"Regardless," Astrid chimed in. "We need to stick together. That way up there could be our way out of here. Or it could be a trap. It could lead us right out of the frying pan and into the fire. We don't know who we are up against and we really do not want to risk getting separated again. But we don't know where that other passage will lead us… I would suggest that it will only lead us deeper underground and quite frankly I am over being underground."

"I agree with Astrid," Barry said. "At least if we go up that way, we stand a chance fighting in the light, then we do in the dark. And yes, we need to stick together."  
Oliver shot an anchor towards the entrance above them as high as it would go. "I'm good and ready to get out of here… whose first?"

 

Robert Sutherland had done his best to explain his side of the story to Cisco and Felicity. Cisco had always been like a son to Robert and was having a hard time trying to make believe everything that he had just heard.

"Hey! There is some sort of computer over here." Felicity broke in, changing the subject, from across the room. "We might be able to send a message to their phones to get us out of here."  
The three of them made their way to the computer and Felicity powered it up. It did not look like any normal computer, but it had a screen and a keypad just the same. Although the language on the keypad was very foreign to their own.

"For the past few months I have been studying their ways, I may be able to translate some of their language." Dr Sutherland told them.  
"Now, that's the Robert that I remember," Cisco said, trying to convince himself.  
The screen was black and all of a sudden a series of green encryptions came up. Robert was transfixed on the screen trying to study the language. "There's a firewall. It won't let you break out of this network. You will need to knock it down to contact anyone."

"Psst… I was knocking down firewalls when I was in the first grade." Felicity said confidently. "You just keep translating that jibberish for me, and I'll do my job. I just can't get over the fact that I am working with Dr Robert Sutherland."  
Cisco watched as Felicity and Robert worked together to shut down the firewall. They were able to confirm their precise location and send out a message to the others. "There…" Felicity sighed a sense of relief. "They should have our exact coordinates."

"If we can send them a message, we should be able to hack into their phones and find out where they are right now…" Cisco told them.  
All of a sudden the door to the room that they were in, slammed open, startling them all. There were two beings standing before them. But they were not human. They were large reptilian looking beings, with red eyes and skin that was almost the color of the sea. A greeny-blue sort.  
"I think this means that we have been…" Cisco blurted out, trying to lighten the mode.  
"Shhh…" Felicity cut him off in absolute fear.  
"Okay..." Cisco nodded and said nothing.


	8. Chapter 8

Oliver assisted the group out of the pit. The five of them stood behind a rocky wall that divided them from being seen. "Okay." Barry told them in a whisper. "I'll quickly scan the area. Take a look at what we are up against." He left and was back again in less than ten seconds, with a horrified expression on his face. He remembered what the Robert Sutherland imposter had told him.  
"Aliens…" he told them.

"So what? How do we fight these… aliens?" Oliver asked. "Aliens! Really?" Oliver was having trouble believing the word.  
All of a sudden, Astrid's phone began to ring loudly. She grabbed it quickly and turned off the sound. She had multiple missed calls from her assistant back at Sutherland Labs and an encrypted message. She read the message and showed it to Oliver without a word.

It was a series of numbers followed by the names 'Felicity' and 'Cisco'. "They're coordinates." Oliver whispered to them. He handed the phone to John to read.  
"We're in the right place." Diggle confirmed in the same tone. John handed the phone back to Astrid.  
Astrid removed her bracelet from her wrist and put it in her pocket, along with her phone. The moment she did so, there was an overload of voices that she could hear in her mind. At first she could not understand them, amongst the thoughts of her friends.

Her head hurt so fiercely, that it brought her to her knees and tears to her eyes. "The thoughts are too many and too strong!" She cried out.  
Oliver knelt down beside her. "You need to breath, Astrid. You need to focus."  
"I can't!" she told him. "My head! It hurts!" Oliver rubbed her back and continued to reassure her.

John kept a lookout towards the other side of the wall, ensuring that they would not be caught. He kept his weapon at the ready.  
Astrid calmed her breathing down. She managed to focus on the thoughts in her head. She was soon able to understand the other thoughts. The ones that had been speaking in another language. They were communicating amongst themselves, using telepathy.

Astrid continued to observe the communication. The aliens had her friends. But her friends had managed to send out a transmission to some home base. There were more coming.  
Astrid thought of the message that she had just received on her phone. The only message that her friends had sent was the one to her phone. Unless it had all been a trap. The alien thoughts confirmed that her friends had done their part. That they were no longer required.

Then something alarming happened. The thoughts registered that Astrid was observing. The aliens could hear Astrid's thoughts just as she could read their own.  
It took every ounce of Astrid's mental strength for her to sever the link. She felt more drained than she had ever felt before. "Ollie…" Astrid said through tears of pain and fear. "They know where we are. There are more coming. They are going to kill Felicity and Cisco."

Suddenly, John Diggle was lifted off the floor and thrown into the next room by a large being with bluish skin. Oliver jumped to his feet and brought his bow into action as Barry had already began fighting the enemy.  
Caitlin supported her friend, Astrid who barely had the energy to stand. Her own mind had been invaded and she had given up their secrets of where they were.  
The two of them watched as their friends battled the reptilian beings, who seemed to be just as fast and strong as Barry was, which meant that they were quite a match for John and Oliver.

"Astrid you need to get up. You need to find the strength to get up." Caitlin told her friend.  
Astrid knew what she needed to do. She needed to go back into their minds. She need to determine their weaknesses. But her fear was getting the better of her.  
Diggle shot his gun at one of the aliens, but it did not seem to weaken it in the slightest. Barry was a mere blur as he did what he could to hold up his end of the fight and protect his friends.

Oliver shot an arrow into the back of the head of one of the beings. The alien made a very loud ear-piercing shriek, making Caitlin and Astrid cover their ears. The arrow had taken him down instantly. "Go for the heads!" Oliver yelled to his friends, as he quickly took up aim at another one and brought it down instantly. There were roughly five left.  
Inspired by Oliver's act. Astrid pushed aside her fear and doubt and delved back into the alien's minds. Shutting off every secret thought that would prove to be of weakness to her.  
There was an invasion coming. But it had not yet entered their solar system. Felicity and Cisco had repaired a computer that had been broken in the meteor storm and had used it to send out a message… That computer was part of a network to the main ship… in another system. Felicity and Cisco were now being held hostage in another room, filled with many more reptilian aliens.

Astrid's head hurt more than ever before. She wanted to scream, but she still needed more information. Where was this room and who was the third hostage that was being held with Felicity and Cisco?  
Astrid probed deeper. She got the location that her friends had been moved to. And she saw the face of the third hostage…  
"No!" Astrid stammered as she jumped to her feet.  
"No, What?" Caitlin asked her.

Astrid had broken the link, she knew that she had alerted all the other beings of her listening in to their thoughts, but she had other concerns at that moment.  
"My… My father! He is with Cisco and Felicity! I know where they are!" and with that Astrid ran. She ran past Barry, Oliver and Diggle who were just finishing off the last of the aliens.  
She ran through the large room that the fight had been in and followed a long corridor made from the same black rock as she had grown accustomed to. There were firelights lighting the way and she knew exactly where she was going as if she had been there before. She made it to a door at the end of the corridor and was ready to go in.  
Barry emerged in front of her, stopping her in her tracks and holding on to her so she couldn't go any further. "Barry! Let me go! My father is in there! Cisco and Felicity are in there. What are you doing? We need to help them!"

"We will help them! Astrid. But not like this." Barry told her.  
The rest had caught up with them now. "Barry is right, Astrid." Oliver told her as she turned to him. "Chances are they know that we are coming and that there is a lot more in there then we just fought. We need to do something that they won't see coming. Barging in there is the worst possible move and it will more than likely get you and us killed. Now I know that you know that. And I know that you are not in the right mind at the moment, but I think that it would be best if you sit this fight out. When we give you the signal, you and Caitlin take Cisco, Felicity and your father to safety..."

"Oliver! Before we do this there is something that Astrid needs to know." Barry said.  
They all looked at Barry. "That man in there is not your father. He might look like him but it isn't him. When I was trapped back at Luthor Corp he came and saw me, there was something inside of him. Those aliens they can take over bodies and I think that is why your father never came back. I don't think he was able to come back."  
"Barry… No…" Astrid tried to argue but she knew that he wouldn't lie to her. Not about something like this. She didn't need to read his mind to know that. As much as it pained her to do so, she wiped her tears away and nodded. "Okay… Barry. I believe you. I don't want to, but I do."  
She turned back to Oliver. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"


	9. Chapter 9

"What are they doing?" Felicity asked Robert and Cisco, as the three of them were tied up in front of a big machine facing a large team of aliens.  
"I don't actually know." Robert told them. "It seems this machine is some type of control panel…" As Robert began to explain his theory to Felicity, Cisco had a realization.

This man was not Robert. He might look like him and hold the same memories as the man. But this man was not Robert. The real Robert would consider his daughter's safety and wellbeing as the highest of importance. Though this man had only merely mentioned Astrid's name a couple of times. Cisco looked over at the machine. It was not only a control panel, but a control panel to some extravagant intercom system. These aliens were trying to communicate with someone not from this planet.

In the corner of his eye he saw something shimmer. Like light reflecting off metal in the darkness up ahead. This room was so dimly lit that he couldn't make it out for sure.  
Cisco saw it again and instantly he knew who it was… Though he would not say a word. "Hey Trandoshan!" Cisco called out to one of the aliens, referring to a race from one of his favorite science fiction movies.

A few of the beings looked over at him, puzzled. "Yeah! I'm talking to you! Would you mind getting me something to drink? I'm thirsty and I wouldn't mind something to eat too!" Cisco said, attracting as much attention on himself as he could. Overhead he saw what looked like an arrow glide through the air and strike someone in the back of the head. It went unnoticed.

The reptile creatures began to approach him. One extended out a clawed finger to his neck. "Cisco! What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!" Robert snapped at him.  
"That may be so. But at least I will go down knowing that it wasn't in vain." Cisco told him. "You're not Robert… Dr Sutherland was like a father to me. You're not him."  
"Cisco, what are you talking about?" Felicity asked him.

"He is one of them." Cisco said. Most of the attention of the aliens were now on them. In the distance he saw a red blur fly past, taking down unsuspected foes. An arrow hit another, bringing that one down too. "If he was the real deal he would have fought every last one of these guys to come back when he found out that Astrid was in a coma. But no. This guy was captured on camera and was not being held by his own free will."

Cisco's plan was simple. Cause a distraction so the others could take out as many as they could undetected, while revealing the treacherous Dr Sutherland for who he really was.  
Robert's mannerism changed. "Tsk Tsk Tsk. Cisco Ramone, You always were the clever one. Robert is still in this body. So if I die, as does he. He has just been clawing to get out. Unfortunately for the two of you, neither one of you are needed anymore. You already helped me repair the computer earlier and while the two of you sent your little message to your friends… my host's daughter… the transmission was sent to the rest of the Daemonite army."

Claws sprung forth from Robert's fingers, which he used to free himself from the binds and face Cisco and Felicity. Neither of which knew what to say. "Are you saying you used us to call an army?" Felicity said from beneath tears of fear.

"That is exactly what I am saying, Miss Smoak. An army that will enslave all human kind. We failed many years ago, but this time we will prevail. That control panel behind you is transmitting our coordinates throughout galaxies. We have finally pieced it all together." Dr Sutherland told them.  
"Years ago?" Cisco repeated confused, "So you didn't come in the meteor shower?"

The imposter laughed. "No… We have been here for a much longer time. Before any of you were even born. That meteor shower brought new threats, which we will stand against. Never before have we…" Robert's voice broke off as an arrow pierced through his leg, making him shriek in pain.  
Oliver, Barry and John's presence had been made known, but they had killed many in the process, leaving a handful left. "Seize them!" Robert had called out to his remaining reptilian men.

There was a flurry of combat between the men and the aliens which gave Astrid and Caitlin enough time to creep in and free Cisco and Felicity. Astrid's eyes were fixed on the being who had disguised himself as her father. He was currently in hand to hand combat with Oliver.  
"Astrid, it isn't him!" Cisco tried to tell her. But she couldn't hear him.  
"Felicity, can you disrupt the signal. Stop the transmission!" Astrid asked without turning her gaze from the imposter. "I'll try!" Felicity stammered, setting to work immediately on the control panel.

"Astrid. You need to step back. You're going to get hurt." Caitlin tried to call out to her friend. But she only ignored her. Cisco held Caitlin back. Astrid had the look in her eye that could only mean that stopping her would be a mistake.  
Nearby, Barry had been impaled in the leg by the talons of one of the Daemonites that he was facing. He couldn't move. Fortunately, John Diggle had shot the culprit who was responsible. Barry's leg healed instantly.

"Dad!" Astrid called out. Robert and Oliver stopped in mid combat. The wound in Robert's leg had completely healed. Astrid pulled out a small pistol, that John Diggle had given to her to defend herself, in case she needed to. "Dad!" Astrid said again, confidently through tears as she aimed it at him.  
"Astrid, is it?" The man asked her mockingly.

"Astrid. Get back! Get Felicity and Cisco to safety now!" Oliver demanded of her.  
"No, Oliver! Barry, Don't even think about moving me! I need to do this. I need to try and reach out to my father… not this imposter! I know he is in there and he WILL talk to me!"  
Barry, who had prepared himself to remove his friend from the situation, obeyed her wishes. He continued to fight off the remainder of the Daemonites with Diggle's help.

"Bring out my father! Now!" Astrid demanded of the alien. She probed his mind, her father's mind and she could see him. She could see her father. He was trapped in his own mind, struggling for life. This being was keeping him alive.  
"The child can read minds!" The imposter said. "You don't need me to bring him out, you can see him for yourself. Struggling, fighting and clawing to stay alive."

"You're killing him!" Astrid yelled at the being. 'Dad,' she thought to her father. 'Can you hear me?'  
'Astrid? Oh Astrid! I'm sorry.' Her father told her in a whimper, 'I hoped that I would see you again. I even had someone send out a photo of me when I was able to gain control my body again. But now I am too weak to do so. I'm dying, Astrid and this thing will have taken over my body for good. You need to kill me.'

'Dad, I can't kill you. I love you… we can take you back to Sutherland Labs and we can help you.' Astrid said in her mind only.  
'No. I am not strong enough to last that long. I have been doing everything I can to stop him from hurting Barry, Cisco and now you. He wanted to kill them and now he… Well, I'm not going to let him. Hearing that you were in a coma was the worst thing I have ever had to deal with, but I knew that you would survive it. That's what you do. You need to take over Sutherland Labs. Make it your own, it is my legacy to you. Change the name. Do whatever! You're amazing and I love you… Astrid… You need to shoot me… You need to do it now…Please…'

'No dad! I can't!' She thought back to him. She saw it the minute that it happened. She saw in his eyes that the very last trace of her father had died before her own eyes. The man who was no longer her father, raced towards her and just as he stuck a large talon into her stomach, she fired the gun, aiming right between his eyes.  
Robert Sutherland's lifeless body fell to the floor as Astrid coughed, due to the shock that she was feeling. She held her hand to her bleeding stomach. "You guys… I think we need to go."  
"I cancelled the transmission." Felicity said softly. "We should be able to go now."


	10. Chapter 10

Astrid sat in her old office back on the 97th floor at Sutherland Labs trying to process all that had happened. They had all barely been back in Central City for an hour now, and Oliver, Felicity and John had decided to stick around for a little while longer. Astrid could hear them chatting quietly with Barry and Caitlin outside of her office.

She stared in front of her, but saw Cisco standing at her doorway, from the corner of her eye. She did not turn to him. He didn't say a word as he didn't know what to say to her.  
"I shot my father." She told him. "I know in the end that it wasn't him… but that's the way that I will always see it."  
"Don't think like that. He… that thing… was going to kill you. You protected yourself." Cisco tried to comfort her but she continued to stare blankly across the room.

"Your assistant Jane has come up. She wanted to speak with you. It's about retrieving your father's body from Smallville." Cisco told her.  
The three words 'your father's body' made her flinch but she responded nonetheless. "Deal with it for me, Cisco… Please." She told him, without an ounce of emotion to her tone.  
But Cisco did not leave. "Felicity said that I should tell you something."

Astrid shifted her gaze towards him but her tone did not waver. "What is it?"  
"I have sort of been seeing her…" Cisco told her. "It's only been a week or so but…"  
Astrid was puzzled. "Seeing Felicity? But she likes Barry?"

"No… I have been seeing Jane, your assistant." Cisco clarified. "But on that, I think Barry and Felicity are going to start dating."  
Astrid glared at Cisco, but paused before she spoke again. "Okay… go sort out that thing... that… go retrieve my…" she couldn't finish her own sentence, but the look on her face meant that she wanted Cisco to leave her immediately. So he did.

A day later, back in Smallville, Lionel Luthor traced through the underground Daemonite tunnels, analyzing the trails of alien corpses that Oliver and Barry's teams had left behind. He had already sent Robert Sutherland's body back to Central City for Astrid. Lionel had his own reasons to be there.  
He found it, locked away in a room that had been left untouched. A machine that had pipes leading to the surfaces all over Smallville. He understood that he was safe underground. He felt bad that his son Lex would be left to suffer the consequences of his next actions. But he knew what was to come. The future would outweigh that burden. He turned the dials and then pressed the start button.

Lionel had seen in his premonitions the aftermath of what these actions would do. Smallville will be quarantined from other towns. All those who dwell within its borders will age faster while the smoke cloud was up. To all those living in the town, time would appear to go as normal. But to the rest of the world one year would approximate to five years in Smallville. Just until the smoke cleared.

Above the surface, multiple people breathed in the thick green cloud. Lex in his room at Luthor Corp. Young Clarke and his parents at their farm. There was not one resident, aside from Lionel Luthor, who was not affected. They all began coughing, some grew really sick, though none died.

The next day, back at Sutherland Labs, Astrid sat in her father's office. No, it was no longer his office, it was hers. She had spent the fast few months refusing to claim it as her own, but after replaying his words about him making it her legacy, she had finally brought herself to sit in his chair.  
The sight of Cisco and Jane together had motivated her to leave the room and his office was the closest room to escape to. Oliver knocked on the door and so she invited him in. "I noticed you walk out when you saw Cisco and Jane together."

"Yep. I didn't feel like watching them make fools of themselves. I also don't approve of Cisco bringing her up here to our floor. She could just stumble over Barry's secret… over your secret… Hell! Over all of our secrets…"  
Oliver nodded. "But you also couldn't take the feeling, that you felt, when you saw the two of them together," he added.  
Astrid stood to her feet and leant against the desk next to him. She thought back to the knot in her stomach at seeing Cisco with someone else, other than her. She nodded. Oliver was right.

"So back in Smallville, when you and I were trapped…" Oliver began, "Stop me if I am wrong but there was something there. Something that has been there for a very long time. Something that I know you have been trying to hold back from, because of your feelings for Cisco. I know that there was something between us… that there still is. I want you to know that you and I are a lot alike. You're not alo…"

Astrid didn't allow for Oliver to finish his sentence. This time she did not hesitate. She kissed him, and he kissed her back.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to walk in on you guys… But there is something that you both need to see… and it is bad!" Felicity had walked in the room.  
The two of them parted awkwardly and looked over at Felicity who made them follow her into the main room where the television was broadcasting an emergency news report.

"…Emergency crew and the military are warning everybody to stay out of Smallville after a mysterious green smoke has come out from the ground and has intoxicated the entire town. The town is under strict quarantine at the moment and all roads leading in and out of town are being closed off. Theory has it that it was a side effect from the Meteor Shower that struck only six months ago... More news is to come as we receive constant updates on the situation…"

"Astrid," Barry said as he approached her, holding out his phone, "It's Joe. He said he needed to talk to you and its important."  
Astrid took Barry's phone and placed it next to her ear. "Joe, is everything ok?"

"Thank god, I finally reached you. Barry explained to me why you haven't been answering any phone calls. Are you ok?" Joe asked from the other end of the call.  
"Joe, if this is why you have called, I am not really in the mood to discuss what happened…" Astrid began.  
"No…No, that's not the reason at all… I need to talk to you without anyone overhearing our phone call…" Joe said urgently.

Astrid took the phone back into her father's office and closed the door.  
"Ok, Joe. What is going on? This doesn't sound good."  
She could hear Joe taking a deep breath and trying to find the right words, "Do you remember those articles that you found about the time of Barry's birth?" Joe asked her.  
"Yeah, I do. Something about a doctor delivering a set of twins and…"

"…And giving one away? That is the one. Astrid, I did some digging around and it turns out that Barry was a twin. He has a twin brother, who is still alive." Joe finished.  
"That's great news, Joe! We should find this twin and reunite them." Astrid was relieved to hear this.  
"No… Astrid, you don't get it. We already know the twin. This will crush Barry. Eddie Thawne, my partner, is Barry's twin brother."  
"Oh!"


End file.
